[Note: Day Four of this week of guest blogging and Amy throws us for a loop, squeezing two songs into one SOTD post.]
What I love most about American Idol, that reality show for which “covers” are ubiquitous, is how it bridges what can be a huge musical gulf that exists between the generations. Any show that enables parents and their children to sit down together and become exposed to each other’s music, all while rooting on a shared favorite contestant, is doing something right.
The fact that the show has evolved over time from being a celebration of “karaoke” performances (those which copied the original artist as closely as possible) to a celebration of artistry and an expectation that each contestant makes the music his own makes me love the show all the more.
Two performances which demonstrate the artistry and powerful reach of AI cover artists are ‘Time of the Season’ by Blake Lewis and ‘Heartless’ by Kris Allen.
In the former, Lewis applied his beat boxing skills to make current a song recorded by The Zombies in 1968! Just a couple of seasons later, Kris Allen, the sweet Christian choir director from Arkansas, brought Kanye West to the attention of parents everywhere, when he played a game-changing, acoustic ‘Heartless’ that earned the judges’ praise and the viewers’ votes.
These two covers are just two of the many that have made an impact on American Idol in the past nine seasons, but they’re two of my favorites.
In the night I hear ’em talk,
The coldest story ever told,
Somewhere far along this road
He lost his soul
To a woman so heartless…
How could you be so heartless… oh
How could you be so heartless?
How could you be so,
Cold as the winter wind when it breeze yo
Just remember that you talking to me yo
You need to watch the way you talking to me you know
I mean after all the things that we been through
I mean after all the things we got into
And yo I know of some things that you ain’t told me
And yo I did some things but that’s the old me
And now you wanna get me back
And you gon’ show me
So you walk around like you don’t know me
You got a new friend
Well I got homies
But in the end it’s still so lonely
In the night I hear ’em talk,
The coldest story ever told,
Somewhere far along this road
He lost his soul
To a woman so heartless…
How could you be so heartless… oh
How could you be so heartless?
How could you be so Dr. Evil
You’re bringing out a side of me that I don’t know
I decided we weren’t gonna speak so why we up 3 a.m. on the phone
Why does she be so mad at me for, homie I don’t know she’s hot and cold
I won’t stop, won’t mess my groove up cause I already know how this thing goes,
You run and tell your friends that you’re leavin’ me
They say that they don’t see what you see in me
You wait a couple months then you gon’ see,
You’ll never find nobody better than me
In the night I hear ’em talk,
The coldest story ever told,
Somewhere far along this road
He lost his soul
To a woman so heartless…
How could you be so heartless… oh
How could you be so heartless?
Talkin’, talkin’, talkin’, talk,
Baby lets just knock it off
They don’t know what we been through
They don’t know ’bout me and you
So I got something new to see
And you just gon’ keep hatin’ me
And we just gon’ be enemies
I know you can’t believe
I could just leave it wrong
and you can’t make it right
Im gon’ take off tonight
Into the night…
In the night I hear ’em talk,
The coldest story ever told,
Somewhere far along this road
He lost his soul
To a woman so heartless…
How could you be so heartless… oh
How could you be so heartless?
Listen to ‘Heartless’ at this link
Time of the Season
It’s the time of the season
When the love runs high
In this time, give it to me easy
And let me try
With pleasured hands
To take you and the sun to
Promised lands
To show you every one
It’s the time of the season for loving
What’s your name?
(What’s your name?)
Who’s your daddy?
(Who’s your daddy? He rich?)
Is he rich like me?
Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?
Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It’s the time of the season for loving
What’s your name?
(What’s your name?)
Who’s your daddy?
(Who’s your daddy? He rich?)
Is he rich like me?
Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?
Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It’s the time of the season for loving
Meet Me In Montauk 
Both of these guys have very nice voices… I can see why the made the finals in their respective seasons.
However, I don’t get get the beat box thing – not when the Fat Boys did it and not when this guy does it. And I don’t see how he modernized the song, which he basically sang in its original form (though very well).
For that reason, I’m more impressed by Kris Allen’s take on Kanye.
Two songs on one post? Does this not violate the rules and standards by which we live? What’s next? Dogs and cats living together? Dog and Cat guest bloggers?
Anyway–these are, for sure, two great examples of how some contestants on AI have brought new life and creativity to covers. Of course, for every one of these great ones, there are dozens of awful to mediocre karaoke covers on AI week after week, but part of the fun of the show is to pick on those lackluster renditions as well.
This post also reminds me of just how great the talent in those past seasons of AI was as compared to the mediocrity of this season. The future of AI without Simon is uncertain, but I hope that the talent and originality level rises above the likes of Lee “I can’t sing on key out of a 5 note range to save my life” Dewyze.
Kris never (or rarely) got the respect he deserved on AI. All of the guest mentors recognized his talent, though. He definitely had a knack for rearranging songs & making them fit his style. I didn’t watch the season Blake was on, but I heard good things about his creativity as well.
I, too, have never gotten the whole beat boxing “thing.” However, there was no denying its pull as we watched Daniel beat box/spit his way through the house after becoming utterly entranced by Blake. The song originally thought about featuring was the one for which Blake earned the most praise/notoriety, and that is Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name.” However, I chose “Time of the Season” because the FACT that Blake chose to sing it is one of the things that made it contemporary. That for the following year, I had my kids (11 and 5 at the time) bellowing for “Time of the Season” speaks volumes to me about the reach of this show.
This I have to share for a few reasons: how comical I find Simon’s obvious disdain, how much I love Blake’s dad, and how much this blog’s creator expects/can’t stand me to litter the blog with American Idol videos 😉
Here is Blake’s audition in Seattle:
Kris Allen was probably one of my favorite contestant of all time on AI, and I was rooting for him from very early on. His style was then copied by a bunch of people this past season including the winner Lee, and all of them could not pull the vibe off nearly as well as he did. that video (hopefully it comes through) hopefully shows the vibe that I think made Kris so loved. 🙂 Blake lost in his season when I thought in terms of originality he should have won. I think the guest blogger has posted plenty of videos to show his “vibe” so I wont 😛 I hope this past season will not be a representation of how future AI seasons will turn out…
ok, first I have to dry my eyes after watching Blake’s father at his audition, how sweet was he! I didn’t know what “beat boxing” was until today’s blog, and I’m not a real fan of it (esp. in Blake’s audition). I thought his AI performance was good though, maybe because it wasn’t over the top. Kris Allen is just adorable and I loved his song. Thanks for your informative and entertaining “guest blogs” this week!